The Federal Election Commission (FEC) voted unanimously to allow Americans to contribute to candidates and political organizations through text messaging.
Here's a statistic that I found surprising and also troubling: Roughly 730,000 master's degrees will be awarded this spring. And it's estimated that another 2.2 million master's degrees will be handed out over the next three years.
Here's a statistic that I found surprising and also troubling: Roughly 730,000 master's degrees will be awarded this spring. And it's estimated that another 2.2 million master's degrees will be handed out over the next three years.
It’s easy to get in over your head when it comes to credit-card debt, and retirees are no exception.
According to New York-based research group Demos, those 65 and older from low- and middle-income households carried average credit card debt of $9,283 in 2012, the highest debt load of any age group in the survey.
One of the major barriers to renewable energy expansion is the unequal treatment renewables receive in tax credits and incentives. As we’ve highlighted, fossil fuels enjoy much more preferential treatment through permanent tax credits and incentives.
One aggravating element of today's economic debate is how conservatives oppose stimulus spending even as they trumpet the economic record of past Republican presidents.
We hear so many depressing stories of Dodd-Frank rules that haven't yet been written, or are being held up by court challenges, that it is easy to forget that powerful parts of the 2010 reform act are already in effect.
Hmmm … 401(k) plans can help you save money for retirement, but they many also cost you more than you realize. According to a new study from research firm Demos, the average American couple pay nearly $155,000 in 401(k) fees in the course of building up their proverbial nest egg; wealthier couples could pay nearly $278,000. These fees can reduce 401(k) savings by an average of 30 percent.
With hidden 401(k) fees back in the headlines, financial advisers say that in many cases it just doesn’t pay to leave your money in these plans—especially once you retire or switch employers. Recent findings from Demos, a research group, include this zinger: hidden fees may claim 30% of your savings.
A recent headline in the Los Angeles Times managed to rile both supporters and detractors of the 401(k) plan industry’s opaque and often excessive fee structure. Citing new research, The Times asserted that “401(k) Fees Could Reduce Average Nest Egg by 30%.” There is definitely a problem. But that seems extreme.
A main obstacle to economic growth is that consumers don't have much money to spend, which is why the U.S. government needs to engage in more stimulus spending -- an imperative that was dramatically underscored by last Friday's bleak job numbers.
This afternoon, two New York state lawmakers, Senator Michael Gianaris and Assemblymember Brian Kavanaugh, introduced legislation that would empower the voters of New York by providing more access to the ballot and giving the voter registration system a much overdue 21st century makeover.
Portability, ownership and innovation are three key features of 401(k) plans that make them worth keeping. That was the case laid out by Paul Schott Stevens at a "town hall" meeting in Los Angeles this afternoon. The remarks lay out a defense of the mutual fund-heavy savings vehicle even as the plans have come under attack for the fees charged by mutual fund firms.
The big stock market slide of the past month has been bad news for the over 50 million Americans with 401(k) plans. Many of these investors have yet to recover from the 2008 crash and have been counting on a market upswing to make up for lost ground.
I recently posted a piece about legislation pending in Congress that would restrict the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over the derivatives market. Chapter two of that story is the struggle of the CFTC Commissioners to provide formal guidance establishing the scope of its own jurisdiction under Dodd-Frank Act over activities taking place beyond the U.S. borders. The outcome is critically important.